Monday, January 28, 2013

What Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, and Boyce Watkins Won’t Tell the Black Community

Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, and Boyce Watkins are going out of their way NOT to tell the Black community that the United States Constitution gives sole control of spending to the United States House of Representatives, which is controlled by the Republicans. So the only way that President Obama can spend any money to assist the Black community is to get the Republican House to go along with him.
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That’s why it’s so important for the president to hold together a coalition of Blacks, women, gays, Hispanics, and every other segment of the American population. He needs ALL of us to place pressure on the Republicans to loosen the purse strings in order for him to get anything done. So anytime you hear Tavis, West, or Watkins pointing their finger at what President Obama is doing for any other segment of the population, they’re doing you a disservice.
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Here’s how politics works - you support me when I need you, and I’ll support you when you need me. So whenever President Obama does anything for other segments of the population, he’s building up political capital so he can help you. But, he doesn’t discuss what he’s doing for the Black community for a very good reason - as Cornel says himself (when it’s convenient), “Race Matters.”
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These gentlemen know full well that if President Obama runs around bragging about what he’s doing for the Black community, the Republicans are going to use that as leverage to tear his coalition apart. They would tell women, gays, Hispanics, and everyone else in America that Obama doesn’t care about them, all he wants to do is help his own people, and that message hurts the Black community. Don’t these so-called intellectuals recognize that? If they don’t, they’re dumb. If they do, that means that they’re purposely trying to mislead you. The question then, is why?

So the fact is, when people like Tavis, West, and Watkins run around telling you that the proof that President Obama is not working for you is that he refuses to throw his fist in the air, these people are working against you, not for you - and they know it. President Obama is trying to help ALL of the people - and that includes you.
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But the primary agenda of the people mentioned above is NOT about helping the Black community, or anyone else, for that matter. Their primary interest is to service their own hatred, envy, and greed.
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You see, they've never been able to get past President Obama's rapid rise to prominence in our society. So instead of taking pride in what Obama has achieved like the vast majority of the Black community, they see his accomplishment as diminishing their stature among Black people, and it's killing them. So their primary agenda is not about helping you, it's about helping Obama's enemies tear him down, and getting rich in the process.
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What makes this so sickening is, while these “brothers” are telling the people how much they love them, at the very same time they’re depending on the people’s blind ignorance in order to promote their own agenda. But some of us have been around long enough to have seen this before. This is the exact same tactic used by the “brothers” who were planted inside the Black community by the FBI to sabotage the civil rights movement of the sixties.
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It was called “operation Cointelpro.” The operation involved sending so-called brothers into the community to divide the various civil rights organizations - both, against one another, and within the organizations themselves. In order to accomplish this, the FBI plants would go into the community and convince the people that certain individuals weren’t militant enough. As a direct result of this ploy, Dr. King was the victim of the exact same kind of character assassination as Tavis and West are now trying to use on Obama. The Smiley and Wests of that era used to call Dr. King, “Martin Luther Coon.” So it is indeed ironic that these two individuals are now trying to use Dr. King’s own Bible in a tactic used against him, to now defame Barack Obama. It’s disgusting.
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They’re playing the same old game of dividing the people that kept Black people from rebelling against slavery, and that has held Black people down for over 400 years. The only difference is, during slavery the turncoats would do it for a pat on the back and a new pair of shoes. But today, it involves millions of dollars.
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Just ask yourself, how many millions of dollars would Tavis’ cronies at Walmart, Exxon/Mobile, and the other members of ALEC be willing to pay to bring down President Obama? Let me give you a little insight into that, right out of the mouth of an irate Black Republican operative. In his article, "My Republican Party has Abandoned Me," (http://www.freedomsjournal.net/2012/10/31/my-republican-party-has-abandoned-me/) Black Republican activist, Raynard Jackson, says the following:
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"For many years, I have approached the party and its supporters about underwriting programs to bring together Blacks who are Republican or lean Republican so we can weave them into every facet of the party structure. The answer is always, no! But, twice this year some of these same people have approached me about funding for some election year tricks that they (White Republicans) have conjured up and simply need a Black face to execute the plan. On these two separate occasions, these funders were willing to spend upwards of $20 million to have me organize a national campaign to identify Blacks who would be critical of President Obama."
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So there you are, and with that kind of money up for grabs, we would be ridiculously imprudent not to minutely scrutinize the rationale behind every syllable that slips from Tavis and West’s mouth. Because Tavis may be opposed to many things, but he’s certainly not one who’s opposed to making money.
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After Tavis miscalculated his clout in the Black community by trying to punish candidate Obama for failing to come on his show, Tavis Smiley is quoted in “Black Enterprise Magazine” as saying the following:
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“I went from making about $1 million a year in speaking fees to barely $100,000 because people stopped inviting me to speak in certain places,” he recalls. “Personalities like me have a Q rating, and mine dropped lower than Michael Vick’s after the dog fighting conviction. I couldn’t engage new sponsors or get the ones who have been with me to raise their spending levels.”
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The article goes on to say, “So what did Smiley do? He rallied his troops to “stay focused on the work” as he conjured up new ideas and led his team to launch a new radio program, publish a slate of books that became top sellers, and create a traveling museum backed by Walmart, a long-time sponsor, among other ventures to fortify the company. “He kept going full steam ahead.”
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What the article didn’t say was his radio show was financed from the proceeds that he made off the misery of poor and minority borrowers who lost their money and homes after Smiley herded them into the Wells Fargo “Ghetto Loans” scam.
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The article goes on to point out the holdings of Tavis Smiley, Inc.:
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“His numerous holdings include:
• TS Media Inc., which produces the Tavis Smiley talk show that airs weeknights on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), viewed in 96% of U.S. households with approximately 400,000 viewers nightly.

• Smiley Radio Properties, producer of his radio programs, The Tavis Smiley Show and Smiley & West, which he co-hosts with Cornel West, a close friend and one of the nation’s leading black intellectuals, for Public Radio International (PRI). Together, the programs reach more than 500,000 listeners daily.

• High Quality Speakers Bureau, which, in addition to Smiley and West, offers lecture representation for approximately 17 social commentators and motivational speakers such as Henry Louis Gates Jr., Iyanla Vanzant, and Dr. Robin Smith. (Denise Pines, Smiley’s partner and marketing guru for 15 years, holds a minority stake in the company.)

• SmileyBooks, a co-publishing venture with Hay House Inc. that has published 22 books to date including several best sellers.

• Tavis Smiley Presents…, a unit that has managed and produced company-sponsored public events.

• SIVAT Productions, a company that develops documentary films.

• America I AM: The African American Imprint, a four-year traveling museum that has developed a number of spin-off publications and products.

The Tavis Smiley Foundation, the philanthropic arm that has raised $322,000 to teach youth leadership skills as well as Smiley’s investments in residential and commercial properties in California and his home state of Indiana are also under the TSG umbrella. He also owns a number of Marco’s Pizza franchises throughout Indianapolis.”[It doesn’t mention how much goes to the kids, and how much goes to his “investments” - and notice that they say “raised” for the kids, not donated].
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But Tavis’ various holdings are very enlightening. That seems to explain Smiley and West’s over-the-top rhetoric. It seems that they’re generating their own news, and then they’re turning around and profiting off of the controversy that they themselves are creating. By creating controversy, that enhances their speaking fees (West, $30,000 a speech), book sales, and also enhances their television and radio audience. Then, Tavis will go back with his production company and produce a documentary on the screaming people that he’s managed to convince that they’re being ignored by the president.
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Even the latest book that they went around the country hawking was disingenuous. The title of the book is “The Rich And The Rest of Us.” Who is the “US” that they’re talking about? With all of the money that they’re pulling down, they certainly couldn’t be talking about themselves. They’re not one of “US,” they’re part of “THEM.” You’d be wise to never forget that.
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Tavis’ holdings also explain why in the aftermath of the Newtown, Connecticut tragedy, where 26 people were killed, including 20 children, West seemed to be more interested in making headlines than mourning over the senseless death of these innocent people. West said, “We can’t just shed tears for those on the vanilla side of town with the Middle Class.”
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West knew full well that the president's response had absolutely nothing to do with what "side of town" this tragedy took place. President Obama was responding as a father - as a human being - to the horrible tragedy of 20 innocent children being murdered while sitting in school. It didn't matter whether those children were Black or White; the tragedy was uniquely significant due to the horrific circumstances surrounding their deaths. Yet, even in the face of such a horrible tragedy, West couldn't resist his irresponsible urge to score a twofer for he and Tavis' team. He immediately saw an opportunity to both, criticize the president, and to garner headlines, which could later be converted to even more publicity, and cash.
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For an individual who’s supposed to be a man of God, that was a horrible thing to say - in fact, it would have been a horrible and dumb thing for anyone to say, regardless to what their beliefs. But this seems to be Cornel West’s pattern. Instead of putting his agenda aside just long enough to support initiatives that are in everyone’s best interest, he insists on being divisive, incendiary, and self-promoting. By doing so, he not only detracts from the effort to get guns out of our communities - including the Black community, which he claims to be so much in love - but in the process, he also manages to desecrate the memory of 20 innocent children.
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The man is shameless, and quite frankly, I'm beginning to wonder if his intense envy, and the resulting hatred, of President Obama might have pushed him over the edge. Because, other than Tavis Smiley himself, I've never seen another man of relative stature who seems to be so completely oblivious to his own destruction. And watching this drama play out on the public stage is absolutely surreal.
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Is West's reckless behavior that in which one would expect of a true intellectual? I don’t think so. He's engaged in the kind of irrational behavior of a man who can’t be trusted - and he's been headed in this direction for quite some time. It was this very same kind of thoughtless, ego-driven, and self-serving behavior that caused Cornel West to be so instrumental in getting the entire country in the disastrous situation that we currently find ourselves.
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In the 2000 election George W. Bush won the presidency by winning Florida by 537 votes. The Nader/West coalition peeled way 97,488 votes in Florida alone. So even for those who say that Bush stole the election, if it hadn’t been for the efforts of Nader and West, the election wouldn’t have been close enough for Bush to steal. Thus, all of West’s ranting about what Obama’s not doing is tantamount to a man who’s dug a ditch, and who’s now complaining that Obama’s not filling it in fast enough.
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The Black community has had its share of poverty pimps, but we’ve never been pimped like this before. The poverty pimps of the past tended to just have little disorganized hustles, but Tavis Smiley seems to have created “Poverty Pimp, Inc.” He’s gaining the people’s confidence by staying in the public eye, and he stays in the public eye by financing his own shows with the money he derives from the people’s misery. So it seems that Tavis Smiley and Cornel West are the Iceberg Slim and Trick Baby of public pimpdom.
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Thus, the Smiley/West coalition is well worth watching, because it’s a coalition forged between the Bogeyman and the Devil.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

In the attached article, I've tried to demonstrate, without a doubt, that Cornel West not only lacks common sense and limits, but he’s extremely selective in his disgust.
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West is never short on words when it comes to denigrating high-profile Black people. He's publicly criticized Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Jay Z, and of course, his favorite target, President Barack Obama. But when it comes to his good friend and associate, Tavis Smiley's, involvement in Wells Fargo's victimization of the Black community, he's been curiously silent. Could his silence on this issue be the result of "bligotry" - Black-on-Black racism? Let's take a look at that issue.
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After the atrocity against the poor and minority community committed by his good friend, Tavis Smiley, which I outline in the link at the end of this article, instead of addressing that issue, West found the time to try to throw ice water on THE most auspicious moment in Black and American history by complaining about Barack Obama using Martin Luther King’s Bible to take the oath of office. Even if West’s criticisms of President Obama were true, the use of Dr. King’s Bible wasn't a tribute to Barack Obama; it was a tribute to Dr. King. So what is Dr. West truly upset about?

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It is also curious that West’s supporters, the very people who are most critical of what they call President Obama's "failure to do enough for Black people," are extremely defensive about what Tavis Smiley has done TO BLACK PEOPLE. Consistency dictates that if they’re angry with Obama, they should be FURIOUS with Tavis Smiley. But instead, they look for excuses to defend what Smiley has done to the Black community. Why is that? It sorta makes one wonder what is the TRUE source of their hostility towards the president. Could it be that, just like White racist, they just can't stand the thought of a Black man living in the White House? That is exactly the problem. It doesn't matter what Black person is elected president, it wouldn't be long before these people would turn against him.
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Thus, bligotry does exist. As we've pointed out many times before, Black people are the product of the very same racist environment as White people, so many of us are just as racist towards other Black people as any racist Hillbilly. So in order to address the issue, we've got to see it for what it really is. And no, it’s not self-hatred.

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People who suffer from bligotry don’t hate themselves at all, and neither do they, necessarily, hate other Black people. They simply look upon us with disdain, and they think that we're beneath them. That’s why such people think they’re qualified to tell the Black community what to think in the first place. They've convinced themselves that they're an intellectual aberration that an accident of birth has caused to be held back. So they feel that they have every right to use other Black people to advance themselves to their rightful place in society - thus, Tavis Smiley and the Wells Fargo Bank scam, and indeed, many, but not all, Black preachers.
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Herman Cain described their attitude best when he said, "I'm a brother from another mother." They think they're cut from a different clothe than other Black people, and are, therefore, superior. That's why many such people hate President Obama with a passion, because his very presence is a pie in the face of their delusional reality. And that is exactly the case with Tavis Smiley, and, Cornel West.

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So yes, bligotry is real. Think about it - how many of you know Black business managers who treat White employees better than they do Black employees? Most of you know of such people I would think, because the business community is filled with them. In fact, many businesses have incorporated Bligotry into their business model - the U.S. Postal Service in particular. They routinely place bligots in middle management to do their dirty work, because they know that it’s next to impossible for one Black person to file a successful discrimination case with the EEOC against another Black person.

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So the Black community needs to take a very close look at the fact that Tavis Smiley and Cornel West weren't nearly as hostile towards George W. Bush and Dick Cheney as they are President Obama. That’s an undeniable fact - it is so true, in fact, that they’re the darlings of Fox News, and they're often FEATURED on Republican websites.

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And here’s another fact. Tavis Smiley has to be one of two things - he’s either a demagogue who cares so little about the Black community that he knowingly colluded with Wells Fargo Bank to defraud poor and minority borrowers, or he’s too dumb to go around trying to advise Black people in the first place, and especially when it comes to what’s in our best interest. As for Cornel West, the mere fact that he‘s chosen to remain silent on this issue speaks volumes regarding both, his credibility, and, his so-called “love for his people.”

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But it’s hard for Black people to get a handle on Black-on-Black racism because they can’t believe that any Black person could be so stupid, but there are those who clearly are. They've picked it up from the American experience in the very same way that they learned to embrace their religion, and other uniquely American traits. So again, Black bigots are real.
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If you still question the concept of bligotry, however, think about people like Clarence Thomas, Herman Cain, and Allen West. Either one of those gentlemen would support sending urban Black people back to Africa in a Minnesota minute. And when you put Cornel West's woolly head and milatant rhetoric aside, his actual behavior is also quite telling. While he pays plenty of lip service to how much he "loves his people," he's never taught at a Black school in his ENTIRE CAREER, and his attacks on President Obama is filled with enough racial innuendo to do any member of the Tea Party proud. And again, the mere fact that he’s chosen to remain silent on Tavis Smiley’s “Ghetto Loans” involvement speaks volumes regarding his true concern for the Black community.

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Those two issues in themselves clearly demonstrates that West has devoted his life to promoting the interests of Cornel West, not the Black community. He simply uses the Black community as a prop to gain publicity, because publicity is what it’s all about for people like Tavis and West.
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Publicity is how they make their living, and what they sell to major corporate sponsors. That’s why every time they open their mouths they say something over the top, like the ridiculous assertion that the first Black President of the United States shouldn’t use Martin Luther King’s Bible to take the oath of office. That statement was specifically designed to garner headlines. Never mind that it’s divisive to an already fractured Black community, what’s important to them is, it gets publicity. Clear evidence of that is that their attack was clearly coordinated.

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It’s extremely important, therefore, that the Black community get a handle on this nonsense. Because there are Smniley and West wannabes - like Boyce Watkins, for example - who are currently in the wings studying their tactics in order to carry on this turncoat tradition for yet another generation - and as long as we allow such people to divide us for their own selfish interests, they’re going to keep us at a cultural and economic disadvantage.

Thus, four hundred years of this twisted mentality is more than enough. It's time to bring it to an end - AND NOW!

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FROM "SMILEY AND WEST" RADIO TALK SHOW WEBSITE

Reply by Eric L. Wattree 1 second ago
.OH, AND ONE OTHER THING, "LIBYAWEST,".
Obama may be a lot of things, but there's one thing that he's NOT guilty of - roping poor and minority borrowers into fraudulent loans that devastated their families. What do you have to say about Tavis' activity in that regard? Should he be held "accountable?" Should he repay the money that he derived off the misery of the poor? What does the "prophetic tradition" dictate? Are you consistent in your beliefs, or are your highfelutin moral values reserved only for Obama?
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I'll be waiting for your response - although I don't expect one. But then, that's a response in itself isn't it? Such hypocrisy is unbelievable, but nothing less than I expected. I'll be saving this one too, by the way. Because since it's on the "Smiley and West" website, your gross hypocrisy will be much more glaring.
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I'LL BE POSTING THIS TO FACEBOOK. I'LL ALSO BE POSTING ANY RESPONSE.
Eric
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LibyaWest said:

Obomber ain't nothing but a black-faced cracker. LW
.Is this learned and constructive discussion, or irrational hatred? Will this sort of mentality help the poor and minority community, or will it detract from the president's ability to get anything done? This kind of childishness must be exposed for what it is. This is not about Obama's policies; this is about hatred, envy, and two hugely oversized egos.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Mr. Smiley, do you intend to return the Millions of dollars that you reportedly made from herding poor Black people and Hispanics into the Wells Fargo “Ghetto Loan” Scam to the people who lost their homes and life savings. According to the United States Department of Justice, it was the second largest housing discrimination case in the nation's history. And Dr. West, in your learned opinion - and in accordance with the "Black prophetic tradition," of course - what is the appropriate course of action for your good friend and associate to take in this matter?

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NOTICE THE WELLS FARGO LOGOBEHIND HIM.

A discrimination lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice, and several articles, including one seeded on Newsvine entitle, “Tavis Smiley - "Ghetto Loan" Peddler for Wells Fargo,” closely associates PBS talk show host, Tavis Smiley, with the Wells Fargo Bank scam targeting poor and middle-class Black and Hispanic borrowers. The article quotes Kelvin Boston, host of "Moneywise, and Keith Corbett, of the Center for Responsible Lending, as calling Tavis Smiley “the big draw” of the Wells Fargo scam. Specifically, the article states the following:

.“Smiley was the keynote speaker, and the big draw, according to Boston [host of “Moneywise”] and Keith Corbett, executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending, who attended two of the seminars. Smiley would charge up the audience — and rattle the Wells Fargo executives in attendance — by launching into a story about how he hated banks, and how they used to refuse to lend him money for his real estate projects in Compton, Calif., and elsewhere... But what appeared on the surface as a way to help black borrowers build wealth was actually just the opposite, according to a little-noticed explanation of the "Wealth Building" seminar strategy, contained in a lawsuit recently filed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
.“Wells' plan for the seminars all along was to target black borrowers for higher-cost subprime mortgages, not for wealth-building, the suit charged. And the seminars were a part of the bank's overall illegal and discriminatory practice of steering black and Hispanic borrowers into riskier and more expensive loans, the suit said.”
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Subsequent to the law suit, Richard Prince reported in The Washington Independent that Smiley issued a statement indicating that he would sever all ties with Wells Fargo until charges that the company steered minorities into higher-rate loans are resolved. The article went on to say,
.“Wells Fargo sponsored Smiley’s radio show on Public Radio International, and underwrote the annual C-Span-televised “State of the Black Union” conference that Smiley organizes. Smiley’s foundation also distributed Wells Fargo materials to young people at foundation events, he told Journal-isms..‘“I cut everything off with Wells Fargo,’ Smiley declared. He said the move cost ‘a lot of money’; he said he did not know how much.”
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On July 12, 2012 Charlie Savage reported in the New York Times that Wells Fargo Bank agreed to pay $175 million to settle the discrimination suit which, according to the Department of Justice, targeted over 30,000 Black and Hispanic borrowers for subprime loans with a higher interest rate than for similarly situated White borrowers between 2004 and 2009.
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What makes it particularly ironic that Tavis Smiley would be associated with this scheme to target poor and middle-class minorities is that Smiley is the primary promoter of what he calls “The Poverty Tour,” along with his friend and associate, former Princeton professor, Cornel West. During the tour, on their joint radio talk show, and on numerous media appearances, Smiley and West have gained a reputation for being President Obama’s harshest critics, indicating that the president is not sufficiently focused, and “accountable,” to the nation’s poor and minority community.
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In a statement by Wells Fargo put out after the bank agreed to a settlement of $175 Million, they said that while not admitting to any wrong doing, Wells Fargo agreed to a settlement of the law suit because the bank felt that it was the right thing to do.
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CNNMONEY quoted Mike Held, president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, as saying, "Wells Fargo is settling this matter because we believe it is in the best interest of our team members, customers, communities and investors to avoid a long and costly legal fight, and to instead devote our resources to continuing to contribute to the country's housing recovery."
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The settlement includes Wells Fargo paying the Black and Hispanic victims of discrimination $125 million in compensation, and an additional $50 million in down-payment assistance to borrowers in the affected communities.
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So the question that remains is, if Wells Fargo Bank feels that paying compensating to the poor and middle-class victims of this scam is the right thing to do, shouldn’t Tavis Smiley, the most strident advocate of “accountability” and fervent crusader for the interest of the poor, feel obliged to do the same? Certainly, benefiting from the misery of the poor and minority community would run counter to Mr. Smiley's zeal for the need of the powerful to maintain accountability.
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We’d also like to put that question to Smiley’s friend and associate, Dr. Cornel West. What do you think your good friend and associate should do, Dr. West? What does the “prophetic tradition” dictate is the proper course of action?
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We’ll be anxiously awaiting your response.

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.ALL OF THIS WAS GOING ON WHILE CORNEL WEST WAS SAYING THE FOLLOWING ABOUT OBAMA(NOTICE THE WELLS FARGO LOGO).

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Black Kids Have Heard Enough Whining - It's Time To Inspire Them To Reach For Their Full Potential

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I’ve been so aggressively out front in my criticism of Tavis Smiley and Cornel West that I decided that I needed to draft a formal statement explaining why I’ve embraced this issue so passionately - and by the way, I could also add Boyce Watkins to this mix, but he’s so anxious to play with the big dogs that at this point he might consider it a compliment.

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The primary problem that I have with Tavis and West has nothing to do with their criticism of President Obama, as they would have the world believe is the motivation of anyone who disagrees with them. The problem that I have with them is their selfishness and hypocrisy. They have a single-minded agenda of promoting their own interest at the expense of the Black community.
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In addition, I’m sick to death of so-called "brothers" who engage in and promote Black-on-Black hatred (bligotry) under the guise of "defending the people." That’s been a blight on the Black community for over 400 years, so it’s past time for us to bring that to an end once and for all.
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So it’s both sickening, and embarrassing, that these so-called “brothers,” who profess to be enlightened intellectuals, are so steeped in hatred that they fail to recognize the historical stupidity of their behavior. Yeah, I know - “They’re merely speaking truth to power.” The only problem with that claim is that they seem to have only found their tongues after George W. Bush and Dick Cheney left office.
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Smiley,West, and their supporters are suffering from a serious case of projection. They’re so fixated on the politics of Obama-hating that they’re completely oblivious to the gross stupidity of their behavior, and they insist that anyone who’s critical of them is merely an Obama cheerleader or defender, but that’s simply not the case. When my son and daughter were teenagers they had a phrase that perfectly summed up the allegations of these people - they’re stuck on stupid.
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Their criticism of Obama has absolutely nothing to do with the Black community’s growing antipathy towards these two. An ever-increasing number of Black people are critical of Tavis and West because we see them for what they are - snake-oil-selling demagogues - and we consider their behavior self-serving, counterproductive, and detrimental to the Black community - period.
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Young Black people have heard enough whining. They need to be educated about who they are and what they represent - the potential answer to the prayers of a million slaves. So they need to be inspired to reach for their full potential. That's what the community should be focused on - that, and educating the community to be more politically astute in order to more effectively promote our political agenda.

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Of course we should hold President Obama accountable, just like we would any other politician, but it's absolutely ridiculous to go out of one's way to slander the most powerful role model that our young people have in the world today. We shouldn't even have to tell that to anyone who professes to be an intellectual, and if we do, both their motives, and intellectual credentials, should automatically be suspect. Common sense 101.

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But Smiley and West are so fixated on their own self-interest that they’re completely ignoring that fact, and I suspect there are several reasons for that. First, they’re seeking the fame and fortune of being seen as the primary spokesmen for the Black community. Secondly, they have an intense hatred for Obama fueled by jealousy, envy, and the feeling that they’ve been snubbed. And finally, since Barack Obama has completely overshadowed them as president, their egos demand that they try to ride into history on his coattail as the people who "forced" Obama to do right by the people, which, of course, is ridiculous.
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So their actions have absolutely nothing to do with the poor; it’s all about promoting their own self-interest and soothing the pain of their wounded egos at the expense of the Black community - and it's disgusting that millions should have to suffer to assuage the the hurt feelings and envy of two oversized egos.
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And anyone who needs clear evidence that the activities of Tavis and West are self-serving, and have absolutely nothing to do with the well-being of the poor, need simply ask Tavis the following question - “Tavis, since you’re such a big promoter of ‘accountability’ and what’s in the best interest of the poor, were you accountable, and concerned enough about the poor, to returned any of the millions of dollars that you reportedly made from the Wells Fargo “Ghetto Loans” scam to the poor Black people who lost their money and homes?”
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Personally, I’m not privy to any information suggesting whether or not Tavis returned any of that money, but considering his character and greed, I feel completely comfortable in saying, I doubt it. But that's a question that needs to be put to him, and if he didn't return the money, considering his position on 'accountability,' our next question should be, "Why not?"
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In addition to that, as deluded as these two characters are, they should both have sense enough to recognize that the most important aspect of a young person’s ability to cope with adversity is his or her self-image. And one of the big differences between Black kids and others is, Jewish kids are taught that they're "God's chosen people," and White American kids are taught that they're the greatest thing to ever walk the Earth. But due primarily to people like Tavis and West, Black kids are being taught that they're helpless victims whose well-being is in the hands of others - and since, we are what we think, that's what many of our young people are becoming. So it's time to stamp out that message, and correct that image.
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But, of course, Tavis and West would simply glaze over everything that’s been said here and continue to repeat their mantra that they're fighting for the people. But I don't accept that for a minute. Again, what they're actually fighting for is the very lucrative job of spokesmen for the Black community. Tavis has proven that many times over with not only his involvement in Wells Fargo’s "Ghetto Loans" scam, but also with his association with a number of corporations that were members of ALEC, including Walmart. And as I’ve mentioned before, Cornel’s mere association with Tavis gives him the credibility of a man running down the street ranting about fascism after just having lunch with Mussolini.
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So the Black community needs to bring this self-serving nonsense to an end - AND NOW! And we should start by boycotting everything, and everybody, associated with Tavis Smiley and Cornel West.
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Did you hear that Boyce Watkins? You think you want to run with the big dogs, but sooner rather than later the Black press is going to realize that they’re being unforgivably remiss and on the wrong side of history by not more aggressively covering this gross assault on the Black community. Once they recognize that fact, Dr. Watkins, you may find that you’ve latched on to the Titanic.

Monday, January 07, 2013

During the sixties we used to say, “I’m Black and I’m proud,” but we never said why we were proud. I’d like to correct that.

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I absolutely LOVE being Black - and I'm not just saying that because it's expected of me. While I have the ultimate respect for the unique character of every race and ethnicity, if I'm reincarnated a thousand times, I want to come back Black each and every one of them.
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Being Black in America gives one an education and perspective on life that you can't get anywhere else. That's not widely recognized, because public attention is often focused on the most dysfunctional in the Black community. But contrary to popular belief, that might not be an altogether bad thing, because it allows the excellence within the Black community time to incubate, untainted by the public eye. That's what allowed Barack Obama to explode upon the world stage as a fully developed powerhouse, and there are hordes of others just like him who are currently incubating in Black cocoons in suburbs and inner cities all over America.
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Another thing that's not widely recognized is that the “soul” of Black people extends far beyond music. What's commonly referred to as "soul" is actually creativity, and as any cognitive scientist will attest, creativity is a primary indicator of advanced intelligence.
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Charles Darwin would call "soul" a unique adaptation to adversity, and the most insightful within the Black community recognize it as being much like a sixth sense that reaches the very depths of human understanding. When fully developed, it provides Black people with a unique grasp, empathy, and insight into the human experience. That's why it is so effective in conveying human emotion - so effective, in fact, that "soul" has been confused with emotion itself.
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So Black people don't just live life, we experience it. We experience life in the exact same way that we experience music. As a result, we actually feel our environment,with the exactsame passion that we feel a lonely bass struttin' through the changes of a slow and funky blues. That accounts for our swagger, but our "soul" also accounts for making us far more than swagger alone - a point we must get across to the more frivolous within our community.
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You see, the very same swagger, or soul, that goes into the making of a Ray Charles, a Miles Davis, or Areatha Franklin, under another guise, is also responsible for the power and solemnity of mind of a Colin Powell, Johnnie Cochran, or Michelle and Barack Obama. Thus, the very same soul that allows Black people to excel in music, can also be directed towards physics, politics, philosophy, or engineering. The only reason it's been reflected primarily in music up until now is because music was one of the few activities that Black people were allowed to freely engage in. But the rise of Barack Obama has signaled a change in that regard.
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So this is an exciting time for Black people, because we recognize that the world is about to discover what we already know - that there is nothing in the human experience more impressive than watching the development of a Black child, who's been dragged through the pits of Hell and the brutal experience of “American Exceptionalism,” then emerge on the other side as a well adjusted, uniquely eclectic, resolute, and learned product of his or her environment.
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These are society's unsung heroes, and there are many more to come. They've been tested by fire, and they've prevailed. By the time they've reached thirty, they've faced down more adversity than the average American at eighty. So simply having survived America unscathed, by definition, makes them special.
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So when I come into contact with the "strivers" in the Black community, I may not say it, but my heart whispers, "Thank you for your service." Because, in my heart, I know that these are the people who have been selected by nature, and circumstance, to blaze the trail of a new reality and move America forward - and considering America's history, these young people represent the very height of irony. But as the old folks used to say, "God works in mysterious ways."
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So just watching the collective journeys of these young people have inspired me to recognize that, I too, can take great pride in being the product of adversity, because the lessons of adversity have served to make Black people more, rather than less.
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Simply having survived the trauma of being Black in America speaks volumes. It represents an independent source of knowledge, and an unassailable credential - a credential that none of the great institutions of higher learning can possibly provide. And while we must strive to attain it, we don't have to rely on sheepskin to attest to those credentials. Due to the tremendous adversity heaped upon us here in America, our beautiful black skin says it all.
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So yes, I'm Black, and I'm very, very proud. I'm proud of who I am, and I also take great pride in my history - and that includes slavery and all - because that history, is what made me, me.

.A Slave’s Prayer
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I was stole from Eden, an innocent soul,
crossed seas and centuries, chained and cold;
My mother was raped and beaten to death,
my daddy was sold, and my sister is kept.
So how they praise God and brag dat they free,
and even sing songs about freedom, 'din look upon me?
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I was chained to 'dis land, 'dis "Land of the free,"
by people with a God, who sho must can't see.
But a change is a comin', tho I won't no mo be,
but when it get here, Dear Lord,

please let my soul see.

﻿

.MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR: A MAN WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE
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The United States of America has honored only four men in history by declaring the day of their birth a national day of celebration - Jesus Christ of Nazareth, widely accepted as the father of all mankind; President George Washington, the father of this nation; Christopher Columbus, the man credited with discovering the Americas; and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man whose forebears were brought to these shores in chains.
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That says a lot about this humble Black man. In spite of the fact that Dr. King began his life burdened by the inherent disadvantages of being blessed with Black skin in a Jim Crow environment, his words, his intellect, and his deeds so inspired the heart and soul of humanity that America saw fit to set aside a day for this nation - this world - to thank God that he was allowed to walk among us.
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His was a soul with such strength that it served to lift the rest of mankind to a higher level of humanity. That's not only a testament to one Black man's ability to pull himself up from the dust of his humble beginnings, it's also a testament to the capacity of his people to meet the test of greatness.
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When one considers that even today some are engaged in a raging controversy over the intellectual capacity of the African American people, it only further emphasizes Dr. King s stature in this society, which speaks with flawless eloquence to the boundless potential of the African American intellect.
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Admitted to Morehouse College at 15 years of age and a Nobel Peace Prize winner by age 34, Dr. King rose to become one of the most honored men in this country's history. By his untimely death at age 39, it was clear that his was to be one of those rare voices that would speak to all men, for all time. Long after the bones of his detractors have turned to dust, this unassuming young man's name will continue to reverberate throughout the ages.
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That was the legacy of Martin Luther King. Through his moral strength and tenacity he demonstrated to America that the Black man was much more than just a beast of burden, and through his intellect, and his ability to personify all of black America, he inspired the world to embrace his cause. Thus, the legacy of Martin Luther King - like the man himself - stands as a monument to the depth and breadth of the African American culture.
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Too often we focus on the most negative aspects of the African American, while we totally ignore the great strides that are being made by the vast majority of Black people. We pay special attention to the relatively few violent, Black criminals, while we ignore the millions of Black law abiding citizens; we focus on the undereducated in the Black community, while we turn a blind eye to the hordes of African American students and professionals who are flooding our colleges and universities; we've become experts on those African Americans who are a burden on our society, while we remain blissfully ignorant of the multitude of African American doctors, lawyers, teachers, scientists, laborers, musicians, writers, architects, homemakers - and yes, now a president - who contribute their unique talents to making this a better world.
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These are the people - the people who Martin cherished - who we truly honor in any tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King. Because as we honor Martin and Malcolm, and all of the other nameless Black heroes who have struggled, and in many cases given their lives, to move our people forward, we cannot help but honor ourselves. That is the true meaning of Martin's legacy.
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Thus, in any tribute to Dr. King, we also celebrate the African American culture - a new culture, conceived in pain, delivered into turmoil, and baptized in a sea of deprivation. We celebrate a culture that is only now in the Spring of its development, yet, a culture that has managed to combine the wisdom, strength, and spirituality of its African origins, with the sophistication, knowledge, and creative intellect of its new found home.
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So on this day, let us also gaze upon the mountain top - inspired by the knowledge that our reach no longer exceed our grasp. Let us dedicate our lives to leaving the world a little better than we found it. And while we take a furtive look back - let it not be in anger, but with a resolve, and a sense of pride at what we ve overcome. And during this time, let us take at least one moment to thank God that Martin, this humble and spiritual Black man, was allowed to walk among us.
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And finally, let us take a moment to listen to our hearts, as they quietly murmur, free at last!--every man, woman and child. Free at last!--from the sandy beaches of California to the shores of Maine. Free At Last!--from America’s shores to the tiniest village in Zimbabwe. THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, WE RE FREE AT LAST!
."AWAKEN, MY CHILD, AND BEHOLD . . . "
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I Now stand firm. My dedication to the power of knowledge is the platform upon which my podium rests. I stand firm, strong, and now free--free of anger, free of self-delusion, free of the folly of empty vanity, and free of the pernicious bane of meaningless pride without substance.
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I now stand free to look upon the eyes of other men, reflecting dignity over sorrow, and accomplishment over pain; I stand with a burning passion, fueled by the very flame that forged ancestral shackles, with a deep sense of pride, and a pride that flows deep.
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I now stand erect! The steel that once degraded my father, that chained him in bondage to this bitter Earth, now reinforce my character, making me more, rather than less; and the blood and sweat that once drenched his brow, and oozed from the yoke around his neck, now rage with resolve and a sense of purpose, and tremble with passion, within my burning breast.
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I now stand as a new being–-neither simply African, nor simply American, but a hybrid forced to transcend the sum of my parts; no longer simply African, since being torn away from the African motherland to suffer and toil in the fields of America, and more than simply American, after being forced to be more than simply American, Just to survive within the bowels of this prosperous land.
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Thus, I stand now armed—-armed with the wisdom of deprivation, the courage of my conviction, and a deep conviction of my courage; and fortified–with the confidence of a survivor, the empowerment of knowledge, and a ravishing hunger for greatness.
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I now stand the product of love, struggle, and sacrifice; a witness to man's inhumanity to man, and a monument to the hopes and dreams of a million slaves. I stand embraced by my creator, as God now smiles upon my people.
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Yes, I Now Stand Firm--Firm, Black, and Free.

***

"Thank you, Lord. I knew a change was a comin'. That boy talk wit enough schoolin' to live in town someday - if they ever let 'em.
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"What?!!! . . . President!!! . . . of the United States?!!! . . . Georgia too?!!! . . .
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"Oh, my God! How long I been dead?"

Society Of Professional Journalists

Eric L. Wattree

Strive To Become Your Own Hero... Then Let No One Remove Your Cape.

BIO

Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet, and musician, born in Los Angeles. He’s been a columnist for The Los Angeles Sentinel, Black Star News, The Atlanta Post, and is a member of the Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists (http://www.spj.org/). He’s also the author of "A Message From the Hood."Some of the greatest minds I’ve ever known held court while sitting on empty milk crates in the parking lots of ghetto liquor stores, while some of the weakest minds I’ve ever known roamed the halls of academia in pursuit of credentials over knowledge.Eric L. Wattreehttp://www.whohub.com/wattree

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"YOUR BROTHER, IS THE MAN WHO THINKS LIKE YOU" - UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS.

WHAT A MAN THINKS, IS WHO HE IS. THINK LIKE A MARINE - STRONG, RESOLUTE, AND WITH HONOR.

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The Hater

Am I a hater, you ask? You're damn right I'm a hater. I hate injustice. I hate hypocrisy. I also hate demagoguery, apathy, and the stupidity that allows it to exist. Hater? Absolutely. I'm a big time hater. I hate what I see happening to this country, and I hate watching the development of a culture that embraces ignorance with a stupid sense of pride. So yes, I am indeed a hater, but not only that - I'm a hater with a very low threshold for bullshit, so step off.